


Aftermath

by BlueScanner



Series: Truth [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24066595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueScanner/pseuds/BlueScanner
Summary: After Hawkmoth has been defeated, taking off only with the Peacock miraculous, the Butterfly miraculous falls into new hands. Lila Rossi has taken on the name of La Farfalla, and is on a war path to destroy Ladybug and show Paris the fraud she believes her to be. Sequel to https://archiveofourown.org/works/19095367/chapters/45367894 which was inspired and based off of art by https://www.reddit.com/user/AserehtBlue
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Truth [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735138
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. One

This may just have been the worst possible outcome for Marinette. Perhaps only beaten by Hawkmoth returning and reclaiming the Butterfly miraculous, although this may actually be worse than that. She hadn’t the slightest clue who the new wielder was, and no matter how much speculation she and Adrien shared, neither could come up with a name. Marinette was crushed. She had been so excited to be able to live a normal life without the threat of constant akumas spreading throughout Paris. She would have been able to go on dates with Adrien Agreste, normal dates! But much to her dismay, this was not the plan the universe had for her. On the contrary, it seemed she was destined to live a far from normal life. 

It had been 2 weeks since La Farfalla had appeared, and luckily for Marinette there had been no new akumas. She was able to recover in the hospital as expected and was released a couple days ago. While the lack of akumas brought Marinette happiness, they brought Tikki worry. This new miraculous wielder seemed to strongly imply they would be using everything in their power to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir, and the fact Paris had gone 2 weeks with no sightings made Tikki wary of what was being planned behind the scenes. 

Paris news and tabloids had been abuzz with the new super villain, having just pushed out the publications deeming Hawkmoth to have been defeated, they soon after had to print new articles and film new segments displaying this new super villain. Speculation ran wild over how this new villain came about. Small sects of people had been bashing Ladybug for not properly securing the miraculous after defeating Hawkmoth, and even more people had been bashing Chat Noir for failing to show up until after Hawkmoth had been defeated. Of course, the truth of the matter could never be revealed, lest they explain that Chat Noir was the akumatized Adrien. 

Marinette had grown tired of hearing the speculation, and she found herself ignoring 0 texts when they pertained to theories and links to various websites about the situation at hand. Alya’s blog had seen a boom in followers, having received an anonymous video of La Farfalla’s only appearance at the Eiffel Tower, and being the first to post such a video. Alya of course was elated, and so was Marinette at first, but she slowly grew tired hearing of the various theories to defend the super hero pair’s alleged mistakes in the final battle against Hawkmoth. 

Something that nagged on everyone involved’s minds was the Peacock miraculous. It was assumed that Hawkmoth was in possession of it, however it was nowhere to be found when the mansion was searched, not even in the basement containing Mrs. Agreste’s comatose body. It was therefore assumed to be in the possession of Mayura, who was also unaccounted for in the battle against Hawkmoth. She had yet to be seen since before Hawkmoth was defeated, and seeing as her identity was unknown, it was unsure whether she fled with Gabriel or not. 

There was a proposed theory that Marinette stumbled across before she began avoiding such sites that proposed Natalie Sancouer, Gabriel’s assistant who had vanished alongside him, as being Mayura. This was a theory that wasn’t outright rejected by Marinette, Adrien, and co, however it wasn’t fully embraced either. Adrien, who knew Nathalie best, found it somewhat hard to believe she was Mayura, although clearly his lack of awareness of his own father’s secret identity proved such a judgement could not be fully sound. He proposed that it was possible she simply fled with him to avoid prosecution as an accomplice, assuming she was involved or knowledgeable about what Gabriel had been doing. 

But by this point, Marinette did her best not to think of such theories. They didn’t matter to her, and they didn’t help her mental state whatsoever. The best thing to take her mind off of everything, she found, was spending time with Adrien, openly. It was a subject she would not shy away from when asked about, and was more than happy to talk at length about with Alya. In the past few days since she had been home, Marinette and Adrien had gone on two official dates together. While these were definitely the best distraction, the pair often felt the occasional creep of nervousness, being fully aware an akuma could pop up at any time again. 

The pair sat together at a cafe, enjoying a drink and each other’s company. They spoke of sweet nothings, distracting each other from the looming threat. Of course, there were other, less world ending threats for them to worry about as well. Since the pair became official, many of Adrien’s fangirls became obsessed with the idea of catching the pair out in public. This was only made worse by the ad campaign Adrien had done shoots for a month prior that had just recently launched. He had his phone set to alert him if anyone tweeted out his name and his current location so that the pair could move before they were swarmed. 

“When is your Aunt Amelie supposed to arrive?” Marinette asked, sipping at her iced tea. 

“Later this afternoon, her train is set to get here at 4:00 if I remember correctly.” Adrien replied. 

“Are you... looking forward to it?” Marinette asked. 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Adrien sighed and took a bite of his muffin. “I’m glad Aunt Amelie is letting me stay in Paris. I’m just a little worried she might change her mind and make me go to London with them.” 

“You don’t really think she would go back on her word, do you?” 

“I don’t know, I hope not. It is within her legal right to, since she’s my guardian now unless my mom... wakes up.” Adrien sighed, running his hand through his hair. He glanced behind him to see his bodyguard standing still. “She was only okay with it since my bodyguard is still on my dad’s payroll and is able to watch over me nearly 24/7. She said it would be too cruel to force me to move after everything I went through, losing my dad and finding my mom and all.” 

“It would be... really bad if she made you move back now.” Marinette frowned. 

“I know.” Adrien saw Marinette’s expression and put a smile over his face. “Hey, I don’t think she’ll make me move back with her. The main point of her and Felix’s visit is to check up on me and see my mom. She’ll spend a couple days a month here to make sure I’m doing okay after this.” 

“Okay.” Marinette glanced out the window, then back to Adrien. She felt a blush creep over her face as she felt the eyes of other cafe patrons on her and Adrien, probably in awe of how attractive he is. “Are you really okay?” She asked, ignoring the eyes. 

“I am. I’m getting used to the mansion being empty most of the time, and... I’m slowly adjusting to everything my dad was hiding.” He answered, offering Marinette another smile. He reached across the table and placed his hand over Marinette’s. 

The serene moment was disrupted by a sudden onslaught of people running past the cafe. The pair looked out of the window in an attempt to see what was happening, but had no luck in seeing down the street. All the other cafe patrons rushed to the windows to see what was happening, but sensing this would end in a fight, both Adrien and Marinette stood up and rushed to the bathrooms, transforming separately before joining each other outside the bathroom windows. They sped out of the alleyway and ran into the street, facing the source of the fleeing people. For a moment they saw nothing, until a boy, nearly three times the size he should be, came from around the corner, holding a toy blaster like gun and wearing a bright red outfit. His footsteps echoed through the streets, nearly drowning out the distant screams from those who fled. A few people opened the doors of various businesses on the street, peeking their heads out to get a look at the action. 

“Get back inside, all of you! Stay away from windows and please find somewhere to hide!” She yelled out, gesturing to everyone who quickly returned inside of their buildings.

“You’re pretty big for your age, huh?” Chat Noir said, sizing up their new foe. 

“Shut up! Yes I am!” The boy stomped his foot, aiming the blaster towards the superheroes. He took aim at them and fired a shot, only for Ladybug to deflect it with a spin of her yoyo. 

“You’ll have to try harder than...” Ladybug trailed off, watching her yoyo shrink to half its size. “...that.” she finished.

“I’m sick of everyone treating me like I’m small! I’m not! I’m big and should be treated like it!” He stomped his feet around, throwing a small tantrum. “My name is Minisculer, and I will take your miraculous for La Farfalla and prove to everyone that I’m bigger and better than you all!” He took aim again, this Chat Noir and Ladybug dodged his shot rather than attempt to deflect it. 

“Here we go again, Bugaboo.” Chat Noir said, landing on the sidewalk. 

“Just when I was getting used to the relaxation.” Ladybug sighed, landing nearby on the street.


	2. Two

Ladybug clipped her yoyo at her belt, feeling that at its current size it wouldn’t prove much help. Chat Noir scanned over Minisculer, searching for the most likely akuma locations. Minisculer took aim and fired at Chat Noir again, only for the superhero to easily dodge it. “I’m going to say the akuma is in the gun.” Chat Noir said, pointing his staff at the gun. Minisculer let out an angry yell as he reloaded his gun, pulling ammo from his pocket. “And he’s probably most vulnerable while he reloads.” 

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Ladybug asked, dodging another shot. She glanced behind her to see the shot travel a couple more feet before fading into nothingness. She estimated the gun had a range of about 20 feet. 

“Think so. I’ll bait the shots.” Chat Noir readied his baton as Ladybug ran to their left down an alley. For a moment Minisculer looked as if he was going to follow her, but was quickly distracted by Chat Noir, who was egging him on. “Don’t tell me you’ve given up already? I thought you were a big, strong guy.”

“I am! I am!” Minisculer stomped his feet and shot at a nearby food cart, shrinking it and gaining some size. “Don’t say that like I’m not!” He took aim at Chat Noir once again. Chat hoped for his sake that the gun couldn’t hold much ammo. 

Above, Ladybug had climbed a fire escape to reach the rooftops. She ran past the battle and to a rooftop on the side behind Minisculer. She watched patiently as Chat Noir dodged shot after shot, trying to drain the gun. She was more than 20 feet away, and so she felt secure in knowing Minisculer couldn’t do anything to her from here. It took about 5 minutes before Ladybug grew worried about how many shots this gun could hold. Chat Noir looked like he was growing more and more annoyed with having to dodge all of these shots, with no end in sight. They had no idea how many shots Minisculer had fired before their arrival, and so they lacked any grasp on the size of a round. Had this akuma been anything other than a child, they may have been more concerned with the disappearance of Ladybug, but luckily for them, this akuma was too distracted with proving Chat Noir wrong and was surely ignoring pleas from La Farfalla to focus on where Ladybug went. 

Ladybug summoned her Lucky Charm in preparation, only to find it was sized down just like her yoyo. It was a simple butterfly net, only big enough to fit her head through. She squinted at it trying to factor it into the plan, and attached it to her belt in the case she ended up needing it. 2 more minutes passed as both superheroes became increasingly worried that this would never end just as Minisculer fired a shot, and reached into his pocket for another round. Chat Noir took his opportunity and rushed forward towards the ground. “Cataclysm!” He yelled out, pressing his hand against the ground in the direction of Minisculer. The ground beneath the large boy began to shake and crumble, throwing him off balance. At the same time, Ladybug took a running jump from the rooftop and leap towards the boy. She positioned herself to kick the gun from his hand, and quickly pulled the net out and swept it up as she fell past him, rolling against the ground. She stood up quickly as Minisculer recovered, quickly pulling the gun from the net and snapping it over her leg. It broke in two and an akuma fluttered out. She captured it, threw the net into the air, and reset the world to how it was before. The boy shrunk back down to his regular, smaller than average size, and the superheroes fist bumped in victory. 

Chat Noir crouched down before the boy. “Do you know how to get home from here?” he asked.

“I think so... I’m pretty sure it’s just around the corner...” The boy trailed off. “How did I get here?” He asked.

As Chat Noir dealt with the usual post-akuma explanation, Ladybug waved the people from the surrounding buildings out, signalling all was well. She pulled her yoyo from her belt and slid it open to check the time. 3:30 pm. “Chat, it’s getting close to 4:00, and we’re also both low on charge.” She said.

“Oh, shoot.” Chat Noir replied, helping the still dazed child stand up. “Sorry folks, if one of you could make sure he finds his way home, or his parents, that would be great. We’ve gotta get out of here.” He waved to the crowd that had gathered from the buildings before taking off, following Ladybug. The pair found a safe, secluded alley to detransform and feed their kwamis. 

“Will you have time to make it to the station?” Marinette asked, holding Tikki while she ate a macaron. 

“I should. I’ll call my bodyguard to pick me up, and hopefully we’ll make it just in time.” Adrien said, pulling out his phone while Plagg ate his cheese. 

“That’s good...” Marinette trailed off, not sure what to say while he called.

“You could come with me, if you wanted to.” Adrien offered, slipping his phone in his pocket and smiling.

Marinette blushed at the thought of being introduced to his family as his girlfriend. “Oh, no. I have some homework to finish.” 

“At least let me drop you off at home.” 

Adrien sat in the train station arrivals area, having arrived with a couple minutes to spare. The arrivals screen on the wall displayed the train containing his aunt and cousin as being 2 minutes away, plus the time to disembark. He pulled out his phone and began scrolling through, soon receiving a text from Marinette that drew his attention away from other apps.

[ _My Lady: Did you make it in time?_ ]

Adrien smiled down at his phone and typed his reply. 

[ _Me: I did, just waiting for them now. How is your homework going?_ ]

[ _My Lady: Fine, it’s the lab for science that’s due on Wednesday. I’ve been putting it off._ ]

[ _Me: Glad I finished it earlier. Good luck, Bugaboo._ ]

Adrien watched the typing icon below his message, waiting for her reply when a voice drew his attention away. “Adrien?” Amelie said, pulling a suitcase behind her as she approached Adrien.

“Aunt Amelie!” Adrien jumped up, giving his aunt a quick hug. “And Felix.” He gave his cousin a quick hug as well as his bodyguard picked up Amelie’s bag. “How are you both?” Adrien asked.

“How are we? Adrien, we should be the ones asking _you_ that.” Amelie put her hands on his shoulders. “How are you doing?”

“I’m... Okay. It’s getting easier.” Adrien replied. “I guess the only good thing to come of this all is knowing where Mom is, and that she isn’t...” He trailed off, looking away.

“I know. Have the kids at school been treating you well? They aren’t making your life hard for being his son?” Amelie asked.

“They have, since I’ve gone back to school. They’re all nice, don’t worry about that.” Adrien answered. 

“That’s good. Good.” Amelie dropped her hands. “Well, would you like to go visit your mother and then get dinner?” 

“That sounds good.” Adrien smiled.


End file.
